March Madness: Best NCAA Tournament Buzzer-Beaters Through the Years

Suggs, a future lottery pick, finished with 16 points in the 93-90 victory over the Bruins. However, the Bulldogs’ season ended in heartbreak a few days later when they lost to another No. 1 seed, Baylor, 86-70, in the title game.

Luke Maye, North Carolina (2017)

Kentucky’s Malik Monk connected on a heavily contested 3-pointer from the top of the key to even up the No. 2 Wildcats’ Elite Eight game against the Tar Heels. Then UNC guard Theo Pinson pushed the pace and dumped the ball off to Maye on the wing in the game’s waning seconds. Maye sank the jumper to put the Tar Heels ahead, 75-73. With 0.3 seconds to go, Kentucky never got a shot off, and No. 1 seed North Carolina advanced to the Final Four.

In a game that featured future lottery picks De’Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo and Monk, Maye was the star with 17 points off the bench and the winning shot. Two games later, the Tar Heels cut down the nets after beating No. 1 seed Gonzaga for the national championship.

Kris Jenkins, Villanova (2016)

UNC’s Marcus Paige drained a ridiculous, double-clutch 3-pointer to tie the national championship game with fewer than five ticks on the clock. But just a few seconds later, Paige’s bucket became a footnote as Jenkins became a March Madness legend.

Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono raced down the floor with time running out and left the ball behind him for Jenkins, who rose up and drained a deep 3-pointer as time expired. Ballgame. The No. 2 Wildcats defeated the No. 1 Tar Heels, 77-74, to win their first national championship in 31 years.

Christian Laettner, Duke (1992)

Laettner, who already had some experience hitting clutch shots in March Madness, hit “The Shot” to get the Dukies past No. 2 Kentucky in the Elite Eight. With the Wildcats leading by one, Grant Hill threw a long inbounds pass that found Laettner near the foul line. The National Player of the Year took a dribble, turned around, rose up and drained the game-winning jumper to keep the No. 1 Blue Devils dancing and send Kentucky home.

Laettner finished with a game-high 31 points on 10-of-10 shooting from the field in the 104-103 win. Duke went on to capture its second consecutive national championship the following week against No. 6 Michigan and the Fab Five.

Lorenzo Charles, North Carolina State (1983)

In a game against a No. 1 Houston team that boasted two future Hall of Famers, Charles emerged as the unlikely hero. With time running out and the game tied, Dereck Whittenburg heaved up a deep prayer for the Wildcats that fell short of the rim. However, Charles — who was in the right place at the right time — caught the air ball in midair and slammed it home to lift NC State to its second national championship.

That dunk accounted for two of Charles’ four points as the No. 6 Wolfpack triumphed, 54-52, over the top-seeded Cougars, who were led by Akeem (later Hakeem) Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.